Mini Forest in a Walnut - with Bigfoot

Watch the build video here!

There's not many things more relaxing than a calm walk through the woods. If you can't be in the forest, the second-best facsimile is inarguably a tiny forest in a walnut you can carry in your pocket. Stressed? Take out your forest walnut and get a little zen! Perhaps you'll even see my favourite cryptid - Bigfoot!

This is an easy beginner-friendly mini diorama that you can make for yourself or as a handmade gift for the cryptid fan in your life. You can make this cute miniature birch forest using a DIY wire hinge and a perfectly split walnut (I show you how to do both here!)  This is a beginner-friendly craft that you can make in a few short sittings broken up by paint and glue dry-time.

The whole project goes together with some toothpicks, preserved moss, and other common and easy-to-find craft supplies you can pick up from your local discount or dollar store.
The steps are summarized in the following photo tutorial, but you'll also find full breakdown on my YouTube channel with 4 other walnut miniature projects you'll love! 

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I start by pushing some air-dry paper clay into the back of my walnut box. This is optional. You can just paint the back of the nut if you want to skip this step.

I paint a few round toothpicks with white acrylic. After this first coat, I added some baking soda into my paint for texture. I added 2 more thiccc coats of baking-soda paint to get that bark texture.

I used a craft knife to cut the toothpick trees to size, then I glued them into the nut.

The foliage of the tree is made up of a few bits of preserved moss. If you don't have moss, you can also use a cotton ball tinted green with watercolours.

Off camera I made this impossibly tiny bigfoot character. His body is about the size of a grain of rice.

The nice thing about using paper clay is that you can paint on it with watercolours. I painted a distant blue sky and hills for the background on mine.

I made the Y-shaped tree by gluing together two toothpicks (I did this off camera before I painted them). When all was dry, I used a brown wash to dull down the white a bit.

Changing the depth and angle of the tree trunks helps to make the forest look more organic.

I added in some grass made from some fibres cut from green faux fur i had in my stash. Yarn would work - or check your spice cabinet for some dried greenery.

Mini bigfoot gets placed in his home to complete the most zen little pocket forest ever!

If you're interested in watching the video tutorial, you can check it out here! The video summarizes the bigfoot forest make, but also includes 4 other fun walnut projects including: a baby dragon, a tiny apothecary, a ring box, and an Alice in Wonderland mini diorama. You'll love it!